Decision Report 201407281

Summary

Mr C ran a small business and stated that he had no mains water supply or drainage. As a result he complained that Business Stream were unreasonably pursuing him for charges for water and waste water services backdated to 2008. Scottish Water were asked to attend the property on a number of occasions and confirmed that, while Mr C had no direct water supply, he did have access to water and waste water facilities. As such he was liable for the charges applied by Business Stream for services used.

During our investigation we found that there had been errors on the part of Business Stream in relation to Mr C's liability. Mr C's account had been opened and closed on three occasions on the basis of information supplied by Mr C. We were concerned that Business Stream had taken the decision to close Mr C's account without carrying out sufficient investigations and, as a result, Mr C received an invoice covering a longer than normal period. However, while there had been errors on their part, Business Stream confirmed that Mr C was liable for the charges issued.

While we found no evidence that Business Stream were unreasonably pursuing Mr C for water and waste water services we were concerned about the errors on the part of Business Stream with regard to his liability, so we made one recommendation.

Recommendations

We recommended that Business Stream:

• ensure they offer Mr C a suitable payment plan to reflect that he received an invoice covering a longer than normal period.